Wins reassure Clinton's Va. superdelegates

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Thursday, Mar 06, 2008 - 12:09 AM

Having stuck by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was down, her superdelegates from Virginia hailed her comeback victories yesterday.

Del. Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake, said he never planned to abandon Clinton's candidacy, but added that her victories over Barack Obama in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island took considerable pressure off him to switch his support to the Illinois senator.

"I think people realized that she is ready to be president from day one," Spruill said, referring to Clinton's argument that Obama lacks experience to be president during a crisis.

The superdelegates are the 796 insiders, such as elected officials and Democratic National Committee members, who will make up about a fifth of delegate votes at the Democratic National Convention.

As a member of the DNC, Spruill is one of 16 superdelegates from Virginia. Six are committed to Clinton and four to Obama, including Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Virginia's three Democratic congressmen. The other six are neutral.

Spruill, who is African-American, was under pressure to switch to Obama because his legislative district voted overwhelmingly for the Illinois senator in Virginia's Feb. 12 Democratic primary.

Del. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond, another Clinton backer, said, "Nothing has really changed. They still are about 100 delegates apart."

McClellan thinks the loss of manufacturing jobs in Ohio helped the Clinton campaign, particularly after the pre-primary story that Obama's opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement was political posturing. Obama said one of his campaign advisers was misquoted.

Clinton superdelegate Susan Swecker of Richmond, like Spruill and McClellan a member of the DNC, disputed those who said the lengthy nominating contest would hurt the eventual nominee.

"People have been complaining for years that the contest is decided in New Hampshire and Iowa," she said.

The inclusion of dozens of other states in the nominating contest has invigorated the party, she said. She noted that almost 1 million Virginians voted in the Democratic primary, compared with just over 400,000 four years ago.

But Swecker said the superdelegates will have to show leadership before the August nominating convention in Denver and prevent the party from falling into warring camps. While she is standing by Clinton -- "I gave her my word" -- Swecker said, "I would be the first to sign up for Obama" if that would keep the party together. She thinks the nomination will be decided by June.

Meanwhile, having wrapped up the Republican nomination Tuesday, Sen. John McCain of Arizona was gearing up to establish a campaign organization in Virginia, Del. Christopher B. Saxman, R-Staunton, a co-chairman of McCain's Virginia campaign, said.

"The fact that Democrats are taking a long time in choosing a candidate can only help us," Saxman said. "It gives us time to raise money and get a ground game going."

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